Grassley: Kavanaugh Hearings to Begin September 4

Committee reviewing unprecedented volume of Exec Branch records

WASHINGTON– Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley today announced that the hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States will begin on September 4. Today’s announcement follows the largest cumulative production of Executive Branch material ever received in the course of evaluating a Supreme Court nominee.

Grassley expects the hearing to last 3 to 4 days. Opening statements by Judiciary Committee members and the nominee will occur on Tuesday, September 4. The questioning of Judge Kavanaugh will begin on Wednesday, September 5. Testimony by those who know Judge Kavanaugh the best, outside legal experts, and the American Bar Association is expected to follow.

“As I said after his nomination,Judge Kavanaugh is one of the most respected jurists in the country and one of the most qualified nominees ever to be considered by the Senate for a seat on our highest court. My team has already reviewed every page of the over 4,800 pages of judicial opinions Judge Kavanaugh wrote, over 6,400 pages of opinion she joined, more than 125,000 pages of records produced from his White House legal service, and over 17,000 pages in response to the most comprehensive questionnaire ever submitted to a nominee. He’s a mainstream judge. He has a record of judicial independence and applying the law as it is written. He’s met with dozens of senators who have nothing but positive things to say. At this current pace, we have plenty of time to review the rest of emails and other records that we will receive from President Bush and the National Archives.It’s time for the American people to hear directly from Judge Kavanaugh at his public hearing,” Grassley said.

This announcement comes after the committee has received the largest number of Executive Branch records ever for the consideration of a Supreme Court nominee. As of today, the committee has received more than 184,000 pages of records from Judge Kavanaugh’s work as a White House lawyer and his work for Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. The committee also expects to receive hundreds of thousands of additional pages of Executive Branch documents. These records will be reviewed in addition to the 307 cases in which Judge Kavanaugh wrote an opinion as an appeals court judge,the hundreds more opinions he joined, and the more than 17,500 pages of material he provided in response to the committee’s bipartisan questionnaire.

A September 4 start date for the hearing is 57 days after the announcement of Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination. This extends the timeline that was set for the committee’s consideration of Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Neil Gorsuch. Hearings for these nominees occurred 48-49 days after the president announced their nominations.

Members of the media seeking to cover the hearing should contact their respective Senate Press Galleries.Information on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination can be found here.